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() Biography and Career
Maloof was born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where his Lebanese-born father, George Sr., operated a Coors beer distributorship. Adhering to his father’s policy of learning the family business “from the ground up,” George J. Maloof, Jr. has successfully established himself as an innovator in the hotel and gaming industries. He is the leading force behind the building and operation of the Palms Hotel and Casino out side of Las Vegas, Nevada. He has overseen the operation of hotels throughout the Southwest and California, including the Fiesta Casino Hotel in North Las Vegas, the Central Palace Casino in Central City, Colorado, and the Palms.
Maloof opened his first casino in Central City, Colorado before returning to Vegas to open the Fiesta Casino in 1994. He then built the 430 room Palms resort in 2001 with $265 million in family money. The boutique hotel, which boasts more than $50 million in annual profits, boasts stripper poles in private rooms, the infamous Real World Suite (home to MTV’s reality series) and an emphasis on hiring beautiful women. "If you have the girls, you are going to get the guys," Maloof once said. [2]
He partnered with Michael Morton and Scott DeGraff of the N9NE Group in their restaurant and nightclub ventures and was instrumental in bringing the N9NE Steakhouse, Ghostbar, Rain Night Club, Skin Pool Lounge, Moon Nightclub, Nove Italiano restaurant, and the latest addition, the only Playboy Club in the world, all at the Palms, thus boosting the already popular resort even higher. [3]
George has very strong ties with the Las Vegas community. In addition to his work in the gaming industry, George is also a member of the Patriarchal Order of the Holy Cross of Jerusalem and the Las Vegas Chapter of Legatus. [4]Maloof remains busy on several fronts. He, his brothers Gavin, Joe and Phil; sister Adrienne; and mother, Colleen, helped finance the horror flick "Feast." All the Maloofs are members of the Screen Actors Guild and hope to become major players in the film industry with Phil Maloof leading the pack in that effort. The four brothers have also filmed a series of Carl's Jr. commercials, which began airing on Oct. 16, 2006. "I love Carl's Jr.'s hamburgers; there's one near my house and I eat there three or four times a week," George Maloof said. "But it was a real challenge to film these commercials. We had to bite into these cold hamburgers and we did about a hundred takes. I kept spitting out these hamburgers. ... I need a hot hamburger." [5]
Education
Maloof attended the University of Nevada Las Vegas (class of 1987) where he studied hotel management, played cornerback for the football team (rap mogul and convicted felon Suge Knight was his locker mate) and "gambled pretty much every day," he says. "I always had fun." [2]
Personal Life
Maloof once dated Tishara Lee Cousino, Nicole Richie, and Tara Reid. But these days, Maloof is happily single. "If I was married and had children and I had to go home everyday at 6 o'clock, I couldn't hang with Paris Hilton or Leonardo DiCaprio or whoever is in town," he says. "To create this brand, to understand this lifestyle, you have to live it." [2]
[edit] Trivia
He dined with Britney Spears at The Nine Steakhouse hours before her infamous 2 a.m. marriage to childhood pal Jason Alexander. He was also instrumental in getting the marriage annulled quickly. [2]
He is a Kappa Sigma Fraternity (Kappa-Alpha chapter) alum from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. [6]
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